The way Leverage handled Gina Bellman’s maternity leave was so beautiful
they gave her a whole character arc that was kind and gentle and introspective that led Sophie to wanting time to herself
I didn’t even realize it was a maternity leave until I read old interviews after I’d finished the show
they gave her characterdevelopment so she could leave the show for most of a season and come back brighter and better and stronger
Sophie’s time off was so good. It was good in-show, and after discovering the out of show reasons for it’s even better
Attn: Joss Whedon.
There was also commentary by the show runners that they had to cut certain storylines short and not do what they wanted because Gina needed that. And while there was an indication of regret that X storyline couldn’t be followed, both Rogers and Downey were very clear that Gina’s health and well-being during her pregnancy was 100% the priority. Basically, yeah, it was sad they didn’t get to do the thing because of reality, but they got to do these other things instead AND Gina got to be happy and healthy and near/around people to support her during her pregnancy.
Again, Leverage and it’s show runners aren’t perfect bastions of inclusivity and narrative execution, but they actively try to do their best. They make thoughtful and proactive choices and are protective and supportive of the people they work with to the best of their ability. Not just to the edge of their willingness to do something, but to the best of their ability.
That thing where you happen upon a challenge and you roll with it and work it into things to the best of your ability and you wind up with something really excellent because of it that you wouldn’t’ve had otherwise.
“But Maria explained and painted their life cycle. Their metamorphosis from caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly. She not only explained that process, she showed which plant species each butterfly species was dependent upon. This book revolutionised the study of insects in Europe. But it also helped Maria raise the funds to embark upon a journey to study the more exotic creatures that she knew she would find in the tropical regions of the Dutch empire.”
David Olusoga, Civilisations, ep. 6 ‘First Contact’ (BBC 2018)
one of the most bizarre things I have seen come out of this whole Dr. Ford/Kavanaugh situation is men saying something along the lines of “This will make all boys afraid to do anything that could be considered sexual assault against women for fear it will ruin their whole lives thirty years later” and it’s like…………GOOD???? wtf is the matter with you
I fell into reading Narnia fanfiction on AO3 a year or two back over the whole ‘Problem of Susan’ issue, since it was interesting to see what takes people had taken with her future. Ones that particularly stood out to me:
Life After Narnia, series by Transposable_Element – from identifying the bodies and organizing the funerals to working through her grief and moving on in her life in the years immediately afterwards. Pack tissues in bulk. (see tweet above about “It’d be a hella depressing story to start out with”, because yes).
Once A King Or Queen Of Narnia, Always A King Or Queen, series by dirgewithoutmusic (aka @ink-splotch here on Tumblr) – a collection of Tumblr fics/essays/meta all exploring potential paths Susan’s life could have taken afterwards. May also require tissues at some points.
Also, while it’s not about Susan’s life after the Last Battle, I would highly recommend rthstewart’s “Queen Susan in Tashbaan”, part two of a lengthy series looking at what the Pevensies (plus Professor Kirke, Polly Plummer, and eventually Eustace Scrubb and Jill Pole) are up to in between the various books. This part covers what Susan is doing over in America during her parent’s visit there (though it doesn’t start in on her (sometimes highly allegorized) point of view until chapter 4 or so, since it’s covering the viewpoints of all participants). Honestly I recommend the entire series very highly, I like to refer to it as ‘over 1 million words of Narnia fanfic I didn’t know I needed until I read it”. Really delves into the whole question of what it was like for the Kings and Queens, reduced back to comparatively powerless childhood after already growing to mature adulthood, and being cut off bit by bit from Narnia.
GUYS PLEASE READ THIS AND READ THIS CAREFULLY. THIS IS SO APPALLING. She literally has a medical freaking condition that could KILL her and they aren’t allowing her to accommodate for it. They can just admit that they’re just tired of this unstoppable black woman dominating and want her to be forced to retire or they want her to get seriously injured/sick. I’m so fucking sick of the elitism (and racism and sexism) that comes with tennis it truly is the worst of the globally popular sports. They should be fucking ashamed. This is sexism and misogyNOIR at its finest.
LemonGrenade 